junk history/science

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I've been home from the hospital for some weeks now and although my mobility is returning I still don't get around very well so I've been watching the telly more than usual. I've noticed a lot of cable history and science programs and %99 44/100 are total junk (bogus history and pseudo science) do people watch/believe this crap and, if so, why?

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@dyslexia,

It has been more than six years since I had cable TV access. The last time I even turned on my TV was to watch the election results.
I watch it so infrequently that I now save money by keeping the TV, vcr, digital converter box and booster rabbit ears all unplugged until I wish to use them.

I do, however, watch quite a few news and documentaries and listen to several NPR radio stations and an occassional Jimbo Hansen show via the internet. There isn't a lot of critical thinking and analysis going on in many corners of the world of media. Even some of the older PBS shows are becoming infomercials rather than investigative news or documentaries.

I'm counting on Albuquerque having some decent local library branches. I'll miss the library that has been within walking distance from me here in the Sacramento area.

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@Butrflynet,

There's one I still haven't been to that is off of Unser to the 'north' of our area. Not sure how many blocks/miles, but it would be a tough walk on a very hot day.
That's a big gripe of mine - both the libraries and post offices here are much farther away for me than in my last hometown in northern california.

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I subscribed to Dish Network mainly to be able to watch the History Channel. I became disenchanted with so many of their programs fixated on Nostradamus this and Nostradamus that. Why is a so-called reputable broadcaster giving credence to that huckster?

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@tycoon,

tycoon wrote:

I subscribed to Dish Network mainly to be able to watch the History Channel. I became disenchanted with so many of their programs fixated on Nostradamus this and Nostradamus that. Why is a so-called reputable broadcaster giving credence to that huckster?

yeah I feel the same way.

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@dyslexia,

dyslexia wrote:

I've been home from the hospital for some weeks now and although my mobility is returning I still don't get around very well so I've been watching the telly more than usual. I've noticed a lot of cable history and science programs and %99 44/100 are total junk (bogus history and pseudo science) do people watch/believe this crap and, if so, why?

You mean like GhostHunters and MonsterQuest and crap like that?

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the age of disinformation is well and truly upon us

now the big question, why, we have a tool like the internet and cable tv to provide us with reliable and immediate access to information

so who's trying to misinform and why

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The History Channel is a travesty. When they do get it right, it's usually 20 minutes worth of film stretched out into an hour program to pack as much advertising revenue in as they can. Their "simulations" are horribly lame, and are repeated endlessly in the same program. Very often, they adopt a sensationalistic approach to even the most mundane subjects, and i suspect its in the hope that the hype will sell. The evidence of the paucity of their programming comes from their having formerly run CSI programs and now running NCIS programs--neither one of which can be remotely said to have any historical interest, but both of which probably have a guaranteed audience.

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@Setanta,

I agree with Sentanta's comments on the cable channels. In the UK we are fortunate to get BBC2 and BBC4 channels advert free., with several excellent documentaries each week. Anybody can download them for a time after the broadcast by going to the respective websites.
Here's a current example for those interested.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hq1w7/Iran_and_Britain/

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@fresco,

also
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ht3p7/Iran_and_the_West_The_Pariah_State/
regarding Iran and the USA.

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I was browsing this thread early this morning so imagine my surprise to find this on the front page of my paper:

Quote:

The phone rang at dinnertime and Rhonda Banks answered.
"Is Homicide there?" the caller asked nonchalantly.

Banks was bewildered. "I'm like, 'Who is this?'" she recalled. "No, you must have the wrong number."

The caller read back the number, confirming he reached the right house. Banks, a single mother of four in Portland, wasn't familiar with the male caller's voice or the out-of-state area code on caller ID.

"We don't have anyone called 'Homicide' here," she said, and then haltingly added, "I think you must want Rashad."

The caller abruptly hung up. Banks dialed the number back, learning later it was someone from The History Channel's "Gangland" show. The creepy call confirmed what Banks had begun to suspect -- her only son was involved in a gang, and carried a horrendous street name: Homicide.

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I like NOVA and Alan Alda's Scientific American Frontiers.

http://www.pbs.org/saf/

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@BumbleBeeBoogie,

Thanks for that BBB. Looks interesting.

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Nova used to be a lot better than it is now--it has gone all political on us.

If i never see Alan Alda's smug mug again, it will still have been too soon.

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PBS has some interesting shows that trump Science , Hitory, or Discovery. I get suckered into wtching all the "prehistoric monster" shows on Science and Discovery. The producers always go for entertainment over accuracy.
Although, I must say that 'Planet Earth" and the one that Sigourney Weaver narrated were really good for photography .

Theres a new geology show gonna be on Discovery and Its mostly trectonics which is mostly mathturbation (Soz made that one up, not me), so Im expecting that there will be a lot of "pimping" of geologists as fun guys and we aint , we are as dull as phone books.

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@farmerman,

I've not gotten another tv since I gave mine away when I left California (too heavy re freight charges and I wasn't watching it much). I had found it increasingly hard to stand to hear the professional-somewhat actory-voice-talking-to-you narrations - much less the phony actor excitement voices. At least when I read, I can imagine ordinary intelligent humans speaking dialogue or narration.

The bbc may well be better, or at least different, but then I wasn't paying for cable anyway. I'll see if Fresco's links work for me.

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Most everything BBC is ok in my book. That and Boston PBS (WBUR?).
YOU DONT HAVE A TV? Shocked

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@farmerman,

I do have a computer and can watch dvd's though..

even with the news, I'd rather read it/see photo slide shows or, once in a while, video streams, than watch tv news. Aaaack.

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@farmerman,

It is my understanding that TV is an obsolescent appliance in northern New Mexico, Farmer. Roger says he doesn't own one either.

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@Merry Andrew,

Holy ****, They shure dont want me to move there. I gotta see my sat AM woodworking shows, and Top Gear, That Shatner interview show, The daily show, and Antiques Roadshow. (I do all this while A2king . Im watching AMC now with artists movie night. Van Gogh, Michellangelo,

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junk history/science

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